Racing Fever (1964) User Reviews

Reviewers are too hard on this

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 27 November 2020]

Yes, you go into a movie named Racing Fever expecting b-roll footage and sure, you get it, but this is also a William Gréfe movie, which means that you're going to get South Florida drama, in this case, the story of professional hydroplane racer Pop Gunner who has one race left in him before he passes the torch to his son Lee. But there's also the matter of his main competition, Gregg Stevenson, who just so happens to be aardvarking with Pops' little girl Linda.

So yeah. Gregg is already married and has a kid, which seems to complicate matters, but Linda stay with him even when he gets wasted and hits Pops with his race boat. I never saw Miss Budweiser - seriously, if you grew up in the 70's, Miss Budweiser was a big deal - hit a human being, but there you go.

This leads Gregg's wife and daughter to go to Lee - the son - for some reason and the daughter and the son end up shacking up too and getting knocked up and of course, someone has to get shot because this is a Gréfe movie and wow, you thought Thanksgiving was complicated in your family.

There's also a song in it, because the kids need to dance, man. And a downer ending, because the 60's were a drag. Look - it has some songs, it has some hunks, it has a cute girl, it has death and plenty of pathos. It's also the movie that probably played last at the drive-in, when people were sleeping things off or getting one last round off. The IMDB reviews of this eviscerate the film when they should realize that this is exactly the movie that it should be.

The cut-down is actually quite passable!

[JohnHowardReid · 5/10 · 15 June 2014]

I saw a cut-down version of this movie on my local TV station. At around 70 minutes (instead of 90), it came across not too badly. Admittedly, William Grefe's script with its frank and sexsational theme was a darn sight better than his inept direction with its emphasis on clumsy close-ups, although occasionally he did have a few odd moments of inspiration, such as the horizontal shots of the dancer and the shot through a rear door of a moving ambulance. The action scenes, despite clumsy inserts, are also not too ineptly handled. But the best things about the movie are the cool, Pathe-color photography of Julio Chavez and the equally cool presence of Barbara Biggart (who made only one other movie plus one TV appearance with Flipper).

I was an extra in the movie, and my aunt is Maxine Carole

[Andrew Wohl · 29 January 2001]

I was seven years old and was an extra in this movie. My aunt is Maxine Carole one of the stars of this turkey. She admits that it is a bad movie and that it is the only one she ever made. My dad and other family members were also extras in this movie. I played a spectator who just witnessed the death of a race boat driver who was killed in some sort of racing accident. His bloody body was wheeled past me on a dock in Miami and we were to all act shocked and/or grief stricken by the event.

This was a bit of a family affair, my Grandfathers yacht was used to shoot some scenes and my Dad can be seen in the background of bar scene talking to some woman, not my mother, very upsetting for a seven year old.

We all saw the movie at a drive in in Miami. It stunk, but being at the drive in and seeing yourself on the big screen was cool. I wish this movie were on video somewhere. It would be cool to watch and laugh at.

Race away from this sinking stinker!

[Hollywoodcanteen1945 · 1/10 · 17 May 2005]

Racing Fever is yet another low-budget 60s stinker which was filmed in Miami-Dade County. The 60s decade marked some of the worst produced and acted films in South Florida history.

The star of this movie was south Florida "cult" acting legend Joe Morrison. Poor Joe couldn't find a winner to work in. And the fact of the matter, he was far from a Brando. However, he had rugged good looks and a boyish charm which made him a minor celebrity on the local jet-set scene.

Filmed around Miami with the racing scenes taking place at the boat-race stadium in Key Biscayne, Race Fever was nothing more than a second-rate rip-off of some of the drag race films which achieved some minor popularity among the drive-in crowd. The cast consisted of a host of unknowns, never-weres, never-to-bes, and local "Z" Miami actors.

There are only three reasons to see this film; you or a family member acted in it, you're a native of South Florida, or a fan of Joe Morrision. Aside from that, I'd forget about this one.

Race Right Out of The Theater!

[legwarmers1980 · 1/10 · 14 June 2005]

What can I say. This is the worst racing film ever made. I'm talking a bore/snore fest of some of the screen's worst acting talent in the history of motion pictures.

The cast of never-weres, never-to-bes,and unknowns, all rate with zero acting talent. The script and the direction are just as bad. Made on a shoe-string budget of about one dollar and fifty cents (I can't believe they even paid these actors for their "performances"), it's the same old racing flick with a romance, a few conflicts, a minor chuckle or two, some racing stock footage, and some local South Florida locations. It sounds like it should be at least a little fun, but it's not. It's just one long boring, snoring, dull, mess.

Joe Morrison at his worst. And for the "King of South Florida Drive-Ins" that's not saying much. This film is a Wipe-Out!

Soggy, waterlogged boat racing flick

[biker45 · 1/10 · 3 June 2002]

RACING FEVER is a truly amateurish film dealing with the activities of boat racers in the Miami, Florida area. It might be of interest to those who lived there at the time (for "time capsule" value only), but others will find it incompetent on all levels, to the point of being unwatchable. I viewed the film at a Miami area drive in theater on its original theatrical release, and have not seen or heard of it since. I doubt seriously that it received distribution outside the South Florida area. My only interest in the film was that I knew several of the real racers whose boats appeared in this otherwise forgettable mass of seaweed. A prime candidate for the IMDb Bottom 100 list. Only a few more votes are needed to put it there. It certainly deserves recognition as being at least as bad as MANOS, THE HANDS OF FATE.

TRULY DIRE MOVIE

[bortam · 18 February 2003]

This movie found its way to New Zealand and I saw it as a child at a Saturday matinee in the small country town where I lived. We had movies twice a week - Friday night and Saturday afternoon and watched anything they showed us. I caught it again as part of a double feature a few years later and thought it was really dreadful, but I can still remember it - funny how things so awful actually make such an impression they stay with you!

A what-not-to-do Primer on Film-making

[rich-432 · 11 October 2004]

Where do I begin....I first saw this film on an independent station in New York on a Saturday afternoon, obviously as filler, and I was hooked.

It looks as if somebody's Dad put up the money for this mess, but its such a

mess that I found it fascinating. You know, so bad that its good. The leading lady has a heavier mustache than the leading mans. Endless cutaways to a

person standing against a corrugated steel wall, day for night, night for day, non existent eye lines, it's got it all. And the Racing!!

I told others to watch out for this masterpiece and they enjoyed it as much as I did...except as a comedy not the drama it was intended as. I went so far as

recording it once but have since misplaced the tape. Give it a try if you ever see it playing again..its a hoot.

One of the worst movies of all time

[LaDiDA · 17 July 1999]

I asked to see the comments for this movie not expecting it to be listed, it is that bad. I saw the movie on a date in 1964 and there were about 20 people in the huge theater. It wasn't long before people were hooting and laughing. We had a great time! The movie had such bad lighting and there were so many editing mistakes it looked like a high school project. I always expected to find it on MST3K but if it was there, I missed it. Funny how the truly bad sticks with you just as long as the truly great.